gurpsfandomcom-20200214-history
Leinster
History As far as Infinity could find out Leinster was a normal Quantum 6 echo until the mid 1930's when a reality quake hit which resulted in the world being peppered with pockets of alternate histories. Since it strongly resembled Murray Leinster's fictional world in his short story Sideways in Time it was dubbed Leinster. Because it occurred in the middle of the Great Depression the reality quake is called the Great Shakeup by the locals. Some have seen it as a message from God but there is heated debate as to what the message meant. Others have seen it at a prelude of some form of attack which has resulted in hostility toward both Infinity and Centrum. The political and social fallout of the reality quake were enormous and are still felt. Locales and Politics USA The US quickly moved to consolidate the pockets of alternate realities within its boarders trying to integrate as many as it could. The result has been a wild patchwork of culture that has slowly merged over the last 30 years. Thanks largely to a dozen 'South won the Civil War' pockets (one of which was Richmond, VA itself) the Civil Rights movement has gone exactly nowhere though thanks to the influence of the St. Louis Roman Legion the US military is one of the most respected in the world. Nazi Germany Hitler's generals tried to take full advantage of the chaos unfortunately for them as the history of areas changed so did the battlefield. One moment the Third Reich would be fighting Cossacks, the next Napoleonic forces, and then fantastic future weapons. However despite it all Hitler's generals did manage to carve out a good hunk out of Russia before settling down and taking an assessment of what they had to work with. Much of the energy of the Third Reich has been spent on the Final Solution and improving the lot of the Aryan people (rebuilding the technology in areas reset to the Dark Ages) but everyone is edgy--worried that Hitler's successor will use his military might to expand into the chaotic regions of Russia and China. Empire of Japan Emperor Yamoto Hirohito took full advantage of the region around his palace being changed as it was when Tokyo was known as Edo by asserting full authority with the help of a woman with fantastic magical powers claiming to be Amaterasu herself. Thanks to many parts of Asia losing their technology or support network Japan quickly conquered the entire east coast of Asia and a good part of China much of which it still rules. While harsh by Western standards the conditions of many Asians are better than that under the warlord they use to be under and so Hirohito is often called the Benevolent Ruler. What rebellions do happen are quickly (and quietly) put down. Enindia This alternate pocket is about the only stable nation in what was India and Eastern Europe. While it is technically part of the British Empire it refuses to acknowledge the current Royal Family insisting that its governor, a descendent of Richard III, is the only valid Royal left. Fortunately the descendent is a level headed man who realizes that the Royal Family have been relegated to little more than figureheads and deals openly with the Prime Minster of England. Most people within Enindia enjoy prosperous lives having been full citizens of British Empire for generations. Israel This is another alternate pocket nation. From a history where the ancient state of Israel never fell it quickly went out with what is reported to be the Ark and conquered nearly the entire Middle East. Taking advantage of the Gentile nations need for oil Israel has build itself into an economic power with only its Ark protecting it from threat of attack. Technology Other than there are no nuclear weapons, assorted magic items and beings, and Side Slipping the major powers are at TL7 while the rest of the world runs the gambit from TL1 to 6. Due to a peculiarity of this reality any effort at Parachronic travel and its user is easily detected. Society and Culture The Great Shakeup has left a permanent mark on everyone. According to records it lasted a full year with some areas seeing as many as 10 alternate pockets. All denominations of Christianity that believed in predetermination quickly disappeared largely replaced by those who felt that the Great Shakeup was some sort of sign from God. The most pronounced effect however was on Physics. With the fact of alternate realities staring him in the face Einstein quickly accepted Quantum Theory and his work kicked off Sideslipping. The encounter with Infinity and Centrum has produced fear concern and in some outright paranoia. Centrum efforts at infiltrating the reality were quickly found out and it was through them that this reality learned of Infinity. Infinity's kidnapping of a local science in their effort to protect "The Secret" certainly didn't help matters. As far as the man in the street is concerned Leinster is in the middle of a conflict they barely understand and while destroying either Infinity or Centrum is impossible that does not mean they can't throw as many monkey wrenches into their plans as possible. Out-time Involvement From what Infinity was able to determine Leinster has access to quanta as low as 2 and as high as 15. Unfortunately Infinity's efforts at keeping the secret backfired and Leinster not only learned about the war between Infinity and Centrum but blames their actions for the reality quake of 30 years ago. However as Leinster learns more and more about Great Time War (their name for the Infinity-Centrum conflict) and other realities they have not had contact with their paranoia about being invaded grows. While Infinity gets distrust and fear Centrum got outright hatred. Their efforts to influence this reality were quickly found out and just as quickly crushed. Until the effort at Keeping the Secret backfired, Infinity actually had the potential to having good relations with Leinster but now they are regarded as just marginally better than Centrum. There has been talk at the League of Nations of taking the battle to Infinity and Centrum but little has been done due to problems at home. Category:Myth Parallels Category:Reality Classification Category:Fan Settings Category:Quantum 6